Tough gig this week, eh? What was originally a straightforward case of doing Ben a favour while he has a paddle in the North Sea had reached George Lazenby/David Moyes/Thabo Mbeki/Jodie Whittaker levels of bloody-big-boots-to-fill by midnight Sunday. Remarkable scenes and wonderful reward for all the hard work, but remember: be kind.
Not least because the Wells Fargo Championship at the Quail Hollow Club has proved something of a rum enigma in the past. Take the last winner there, Max Homa in 2019. In many ways he confirmed to type. He was the fourth course winner in five to top the Par-4 Scoring and, as with the three winners before him, he excelled in both Strokes Gained Putting and Putting Average.
If those latter two results strike fear in the hearts of punters, there is plenty of hope elsewhere because the majority of winners here have possessed a touch of class, something Homa has proved since his triumph here with a second win at Riviera early this season. The other notable factor about winners here is that they tend to be long, an issue Angel Cabrera identified early in the tournament’s life when he said: “It’s a course that let’s me hit driver a lot and for that reason it fits my game well, it’s why I play well here.”
Viewing that situation in reverse, as a short-hitter, Peter Malnati said in 2018, after getting into contention during the first 36 holes: “The course is amazing, but it’s really difficult. I’m not known for my distance off the tee and this is a long course so I had to show off my hybrid prowess today. I was hitting a lot of long shots into the par-4s and even some of the par-3s. A tough test, a really tough test.” The stress on his approach game became too great and he drifted backwards at the weekend.
Like Cabrera, Rory McIlroy has always loved the George Cobb-designed test, even saying in 2019: “I feel like I don't even have to play that good and I can still get it round.” That, of course, is something he might put to the test this week, given that he’s averaged 76.00 in his last five rounds of strokeplay.
Final thought about this whizz kid? He’s not a kid any more – in fact he’s newly engaged and flying high on happiness. If he wins this week that’ll be the wedding paid for.
In recent months EMILIANO GRILLO has been playing well and he ought to be excited about returning to Quail Hollow. The Argentine golfer was ninth in this tournament back in 2018, when his tee to green game was outstanding (sixth for SG tee to Green, third for Greens in Regulation) and that quality was to the fore when he was second behind Stewart Cink at Harbour Town in April.
Before that he was eighth behind Hovland in Mexico, posted top 25s at TPC Scottsdale and Bay Hill, T11th in Puerto Rico and sixth in the Dominican Republic. He also got off to a nice start last week (66) before an outlandish 76 saw him miss the cut. That might easily keep expectations realistic and it’s helped keep him under the radar. You wouldn’t want to take him much shorter but the current price is good for a man who has enjoyed the task and has a lot of good rounds under his belt in the last few weeks.
Final selection is JOEL DAHMEN and there is very little clever about the pick: it’s the simple suggestion that a recent winner with excellent course form is too good to miss at the available three figures.
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